Seatings: 7:00pm, 8:30pm, & 10:15pm. Doors open 30 minutes early.
$35/$45
What they’re saying about Gerald Clayton:
“A remarkable player, he seems to understand what our ear wants – blooming harmony, melodic improvisations, firm landings – and how to deliver it.” — The New York Times
“Gerald Clayton is one of the most accomplished, distinctive and innovative pianists performing today.” — Don Was
“Clayton’s piano contributions, in their wild, free-spilling, lyrical aspiration, are consistently stunning” — JazzTimes
“[Clayton] approaches…with pensive grace as he slowly unravels thick, striking chords” — DownBeat...
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Seatings: 7:00pm, 8:30pm, & 10:15pm. Doors open 30 minutes early.
$35/$45
What they’re saying about Gerald Clayton:
“A remarkable player, he seems to understand what our ear wants – blooming harmony, melodic improvisations, firm landings – and how to deliver it.” — The New York Times
“Gerald Clayton is one of the most accomplished, distinctive and innovative pianists performing today.” — Don Was
“Clayton’s piano contributions, in their wild, free-spilling, lyrical aspiration, are consistently stunning” — JazzTimes
“[Clayton] approaches…with pensive grace as he slowly unravels thick, striking chords” — DownBeat
What they’re saying about Gerald Clayton’s recording Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard
“Compelling and urgent” — WBGO’s Nate Chinen
“A thoroughly enthralling album” — DownBeat
Gerald Clayton searches for honest expression in every note. The six-time GRAMMY nominated pianist-composer and recent Blue Note Artist began formal studies at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in Piano Performance at USC’s Thornton School of Music under the instruction of Billy Childs, following a year of intensive study with NEA Jazz Master Kenny Barron at The Manhattan School of Music. In 2006, Clayton won second place in the Monk Institute of Jazz Piano Competition.
Inclusive sensibilities have allowed Clayton to collaborate with such distinctive artists as Diana Krall, Roy Hargrove, Dianne Reeves, Terence Blanchard, John Scofield, Terri Lyne Carrington, Peter Bernstein, Ambrose Akinmusire, Gretchen Parlato, Ben Wendel, the Clayton Brothers Quintet and legendary band leader Charles Lloyd. He currently serves as Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and has served as Musical Director for Monterey Jazz Festival On Tour.
Over the years, Clayton’s playing and original works have received GRAMMY recognition for Best Improvised Jazz Solo, Best Jazz Instrumental Composition and Best Jazz Instrumental Album — a nomination he earned most recently for his debut release on Blue Note Records Happening: Live at the Village Vanguard.
Clayton honors the legacy of his father, bassist-composer John Clayton, and all his musical ancestors through a commitment to exploration and honesty. In 2019, he received a commission from Los Angeles County Museum of Art to compose a musical pendant for artist Charles White’s “5 Great American Negroes” mural. Seeking to spotlight race and racial tensions, Clayton titled the project White Cities: A Musical Tribute to Charles White.
In January 2020, he began work on the critically-acclaimed score for Sam Pollard’s award-winning documentary MLK/FBI. The emotional resonance of Clayton’s score imbues the film with subtle, lingering moments of struggle and humanity, and helps capture a complex arc of an enduring subject.
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